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Baltimore City Board of Estimates to hold public hearing on water rates

Residents, some officials show concern for 37% hike

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Updated: 6:43 AM EDT May 23, 2013

The Baltimore City Board of Estimates approves a public hearing date of June 26 to allow residents to sound off on proposed water rate hikes.

Baltimore City Board of Estimates to hold public hearing on water rates

Residents, some officials show concern for 37% hike

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Updated: 6:43 AM EDT May 23, 2013

BALTIMORE —

Baltimore residents will get a chance to air their views about a proposed hike in water rates that's not sitting well with many residents and some city leaders.

The City Board of Estimates on Wednesday approved a public hearing on the issue for June 26. Water rates could rise by 37 percent over three years if the Baltimore City Department of Public Works gets approval for the increase.

On Wednesday, the city comptroller questioned the need for such a jump, and the city auditor spelled out what he considered lax management of city funds.

"This is the February bill of $164.92. This is the bill for May of $468.50. It's a $271 difference," northwest Baltimore resident Michael McCoy showed 11 News.

McCoy continues the battle he started two years ago, trying to prove he's being charged too much for city water, which currently comes in the form of an estimated bill.

"We shouldn't have to pay for this. We shouldn't. Pay for the water you use," McCoy said.

Others share his worries, as the city's DPW proposes additional increases that would raise water rates by 37 percent.

"I have concerns about the double-digit increase. I also have concerns about the Department of Public Works wanting to implement it over a three-year period as opposed to looking at it each individual year," City Comptroller Joan Pratt said.

Pratt said she wants to make sure the numbers add up. The DPW claims it needs additional funds to pay for existing projects, replace aging and crumbling pipes, meet state and federal regulatory mandates and build state-of-the-art meter and billing systems.

On Wednesday, the Board of Estimates approved the June 26 public hearing and also heard about what City Auditor Bob McCarty called significant deficiencies in how city agencies handled taxpayer dollars. His main complaint was that they didn't follow recommendations from the Department of Audits, costing Baltimore around $1 million extra to research and redo financial information.

The DPW said it has worked to fix billing and customer service problems. Baltimore City Housing said $680,000 that was reported in the findings to be returned to the federal government actually was returned and used to fix up more than 4,700 houses.

"We're disappointed that the audit came out leaving that impression, because it's just the opposite. We not only weatherized that many houses, but in a great many of the houses, we fixed the roof. We replaced the furnace. We made healthy-home improvements. We went beyond what the stimulus funded us to do, and we're very proud of our record. We didn't waste a dime," Deputy Housing Commissioner Ken Strong said.

WBAL-TV 11 News attempted to get a comment from Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, but she is out of town. If approved, the new water rates will go into effect July 1.